Manual throwover assembly



y 3, 56 T. A. ST. CLAIR 2,752,948

MANUAL THROWOVER ASSEMBLY Filed April 25, 1953 INVENTOR. 49 I 77/500025A. .sz CLAIR BY J RICHE); WATTS, oaznwusn9vs/m I A TTOR/VEHS 2,7s2,94s eMANUAL THRowovER ASSEMBLY Theodore A. St. Clair, South Euclid, Ohio,assignor to The Weatherhead Company, Cleveland, Ohio, at corporation ofOhio Application April 23, 1953,S erial No. 350,721

4 Claims. cum-625.4

below the pressure necessary forthe system, a valve must be operatedwhich changes the source of supply to the reserve cylinder. Since theconsumer in such installations is normally inexperienced it isnecessarythat the operation of changing from the supply cylinder to thereserve cylinder be simplified asmuch as possibleMAlsO, since the fluidbeing controlled in such a system isinflammable, it is essential thatthe throw-over valve be essentially foolproof so as to prevent anypossibility of explosion or fire.

It is an important object of this invention to provide a throw-overvalve for switching from one source of fluid under pressure to anothersource of fluid under pressure which is easy to operate andrelativelyfoolproof.

It is another object of this invention toprovidel athrowover valve foruse in liquefied petroleum gas installations which virtually eliminatespossibility of leakage or contamination of the gas within the system"whichgmight cause fire hazards.

It is still another object of this "invention to, provide a throw-overvalve wherein the tolerences of manufacture are relatively large so thatthefabrication cost is reduced to a minimum. 1 r

The foregoing and other objects and advantageswill become apparent inview of the following description taken in conjunction with thedrawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a side view partially in section showing a manual throw-overvalve embodying a preferred structure according to this inventionp itFig. 2 is a cross sectional Fig. 1; and,

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional Fig.2. 1 r i In a preferred embodimentofthisinventionthe throwover valve is provided withfa body formed with acentral bore terminating in anendwall. A,plurality of in-. lets areformed in the body having inlet passages opening into said end wallprovidinga plurality:.of inlets into the central bore. An outlet is alsoformed: in the body opening into the central bore. A resilient disc ispositioned against the end wall overlapping the inlet passages. A rigidball is positioned within the central bore and adapted to engagetheresilient disc and urge that porview taken along 2-2 of view takenalong 3-3 of tion of the disc engaged by the ball toward the end walhnited States Patent Patented July 3,

of the central bore. Drive means are provided to move the ball from aposition adjacent to one of the inlet passages to a position adjacent tothe other inlet passage and to urge the ball into engagement with theresilient disc thereby causing the disc to seal at least one of theinlet passages and isolate itfrom the central bore.

Referring to the drawings, the body 10 is formed with a bore 11terminating ina substantially radial end wall 12 at the inner endthereof. The body 10 is also provided with inlets 13 and 14 which arepreferably threaded so they may be attached to sources of fluid underpressure by any normal coupling means. In the preferred embodiment ofthis invention the inlets 13 and 14 are coaxial.

Smaller bores 16 and 17 coaxial with the inlets 13 and 14 project beyondthe bottom of the inlets 13 and 14 and are terminated at a point spacedfrom each other by the wall 18. Inlet passages 19 and 21 extend be tweenthe end wall 12 and thebores 16 and 17 respectively providing fluidcommunication between the inlets 13 and 14 and the bore 11 through thebores 16 and 17.

in the preferred embodiment of this invention the inlet passages 19 and21 are formed with axes parallel to andequally spaced from the. axis ofthe bore 11. An outlet 22 is provided in the body 10 which is in fluidcommunication with the bore 11 through the outlet passages 23 and 24 ata point spaced from the end wall 12. The outlet 22 is also formed withthreads tofacilitate the coupling with the system to be supplied withthe fluid under pressure. p

The bore 11 is formed with the threads .26 at its outer end into whichthe bonnet 27 may be threaded. The bonnet 27 is formed with a centralbore 28 therethrough adapted to guide the cam assembly 29.

The cam assembly 29 embodies a cam member 31, a cap or handle 32, aspherical sealing ball 33 and a resilient spring 34. The cam member 31is formed with a shaftsection 36 adapted to extend through the bore 28in the bonnet 27 thereby providing a guide for the cam assembly 29.

A resilient disc 37 which is preferably formed of syntheticrubber ispositioned against the end wall 12 of the bore 11 and is adapted tooverlap the inlet passages 19 and 21. ameter substantially larger thanthe diameter of the inlets 19 and 21 engages the other side of the disc37 and urges the disc into engagement with the portion of the end Wall12 adjacent to the ball 33 under the force of the spring 34. The cam 31is provided with an olfset bore 38 having a diameter larger than thediameter of the sealing ball 33 in which the sealing ball 33 ispositioned. The spring 34 extends between the bottom 39 of the offsetbore 38 and the sealing ball 33 thereby urging the sealing ball intotight engagement with the disc 37. The axis of the ofiset bore 38 ispreferably parallel. to the axis of the bore 11 and spaced therefrom adistance equal to the spacing of the axes of the inlet passages 19 and21 from the axis of the bore 11. Because the spacing of the offset bore38 is equal to the radial spacing of the inlet passages 19 and 21rotation of the cam assembly 29 will position the sealing ball 33adjacent to the opening of one of the inlet passages 19 and 21 in theend wall 12 therebycausing the sealing ball 33 to urge the disc 37 intotight sealing engagementwith the opening of the adjacent inlet passage19 or 21 therer by isolating this inlet from the bore 11.

The spherical sealing ball 33 which has a di- The cam 31 is formed witha shoulder 41 adjacent to the end of the shaft section 36 which providesa surface against which the thrust bearing 42 is urged. In the preferredembodiment, the thrust bearing is formedof nylon or similar materialwhich has desirable wearing characteristics. Positioned between thethrust bearing 42 and the end face 43 of the bonnet 27 is a shaft seal44 of the O-ring variety which; is adapted to engage the shaft section36 and the end face 43,0f the bonnet 27' thereby providing a" fluid.seal therebet'ween.

The outer end of the s'haft'section 36, is formed with a flat 46 whichis adapted'to engage; a simi lar flat in the recess 47 formed in thehandle 32 thereby preventing a relative rotational movementbetween thecam 31 and the handle'32. A screw 48; is provided to securely fasten thehandle 32 to the cam member 31. i

The cam member 31 is formed with a stop surface 49 adapted to engage thestopmember 51 which is secured in the bore 52 in the body 10.. In thepreferred embodimentthe stp 51 is adapted to engage and limit therotation of th e cam member 31 when the sealing ball 33 is positionedadjacent to one or the other of the inlet pasn sages 19 or 21.,

I I It the cam assembly 29 is in the position shown in Fig.

2 fluid under pressure entering the inlet 13 flows through the bore 16and the inlet passage 19 deflecting the disc 37. From the inlet passage19 the fluid flows into the bore 11 and out through the outlet 22 to thesystem to be supplied. The source of fluid under pressure connected tothe inlet 14 is isolated from the bore 11 by the disc 37 which ispressed into sealing engagement with the opening of the inlet passage 21by the sealing ball 33. When the supply of fluid under pressureconnected to the inlet 13 is exhausted the cam assembly 29 is rotateduntil 'the sealing ball 33 is positioned adjacent to the inlet 19thereby providing fluid communication between the inlet"21' and the bore11. At this time the exhausted cylinder which is connected to the inlet13 may be removedand a new cylinder installed at this inlet.

By providing the bore 38 with a diameter larger than the diameter of theball a good seal of the inlet is insured'even if the bore 38 is notexactly coaxial with the inlet opening being sealed. Reference to Fig. 2will disclose thatfthe ball 33 will deflect the disc 37 into the inletopening and automatically align itself relative to the inlet so long asenough clearance is provided between the bore 38, and the ball. are alsocliaracteristic of this valve since the ball tends to roll between itspositions and since the resilient disc insures aseal even though thevalve seat or the ball might not be perfectly formed.

, An'adde'd safety factor is provided since the disc 37 is adaptedto'normally engage the end wall 12 so if the pres-v sure within thepressure source is reduced below the pres-; sure within the system thedisc 37 acts as a check valve to preventany flow of air into the bore 11and on into the system thereby preventing any possibility of acombustible mixture being present within the system which could causeexplosions and fire hazards.

Having completed a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention so that others skilled in the art may be able tounderstand and practice the same, I state that what I desire to secureby Letters Patent is not limited by said preferred embodiment but ratheris defined in what is claimed.

What is claimed is: i

l. A throw-over valve comprising a body formed with a main chamberterminating in an end wall, a plurality of inlet passages said bodyopening into said chamber through; said end wall, an outlet formed insaid body in fluid communicationwithsaid chamber in an area spaced Baseand certainty of operation from said end wall, a flexible discpositioned against said end wall covering all 'o'f'saidinlet 'passages,a ball in said chamber adapted to engage and urge said disc into sealingengagement with at least one of said inlet passages, means for rollingsaid ball on the side of the disc away from said inlet passages in apath intersecting the center line of said inlet passages and urging saidball against said disc adjacent to at least one of said inlets, saiddisc being free to be deflected away from the other of said inletpassages by fluid flow through said passages into said chamber.

2. A throw-over valve comprising a body formed with a main chamberterminating in an end wall, a plurality of inlet passages in said bodyopening into said chamber through said end wall, an outlet formed insaid body in fluid communication with said chamber, a resilient discpositioned against said end wall covering all of said inlet passages, aball in said chamber adapted toengage and urge said disc into sealingengagement with at least one of said inlet passages, drive means forrolling said ball on the side of the disc away from said inlet passagesin a path intersecting the center line of said inlet passages topositions adjacent to each of said inlets, and spring means to urge saidball against said disc, said disc remaining substantially non-rotativerelative to the wall during the moving of said ball between positionsadjacent to each inlet.

, 3. A throw-over valve comprising a body formed with; i a main boreterminating in a substantially fiat end wall,

a plurality of vinlet passages with their axes parallel to and equallyspaced from the axis of said main bore in said body opening into saidchamber through said end wall,.an outlet formed in said body in fluidcommunication withsaid main bore spaced from said end wall, a resilientdisc positioned against said end wall covering all of said inletpassages, a cam mounted in said body for rotation about an axis coaxialwith said main bore formed with an offset bore parallel to and spacedfrom the axis of saidg main bore a distance substantially equal to thespacing .of the axes of said inlet passages from the axis of said mainbore, a ball in said offset bore adapted to engage and urge said discinto sealing engagement with at leastone of said inlet passages, andspring means to urge saidball against said disc, rotation of said camrolling said ball onthe side of the disc away from said inlet passagesin a path intersecting the center line of said inlet passages from aposition adjacent to one of said passages to, PQSltlOI1S121dj3CI1t tothe other of said passages, said disc remaining substantiallynon-rotative relative to said end wall during said rolling of said ball.

4.,A throw-over valve comprising a body formed with a main boreterminating in a substantially flat end wall,

. a plurality of inlet passages with their axes parallel to and equallyspaced from the axis of said main bore in said body opening into saidchamber through said end wall, an outlet formed in said body in fluidcommunica-' tion with said main bore spaced from said end wall, aresilient disc positioned against said end wall covering all of saidinlet passages, a cam mounted in said body for rotation about an axiscoaxial with said main bore formed with an otfset bore parallel to andspaced from the axis of said main bore a distance substantially equal tothe spacing of the axes of said inlet passages from the axis of saidmain bore, a ball in said offset bore adapted to engage and urge saiddisc into sealing engagement with at least one of said inlet passages,and spring means to urge saidball against said disc, the diameter ofsaid ball being substantially larger than the diameter of said inletpassages and the diameter of said offset bore being substantially largerthan the diameter of said ball, rotation of said camrolling said ball onthe side of the disc away from said inlet passages in a pathintersecting the center line "of said inlet passages from a positionadacent to one-of-said" passages topositions. adjacent to the other ofsaid passages, said disc remaining substantial- 1y non-rotative relativeto said end Wall during said rolling of said ball.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 6Parker July 23, 1940 Evarts Aug. 7, 1945 Langdon July 19, 1949 ReevesFeb. 14, 1950 Fairchild Aug. 22, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Italy 1948 FranceJuly 12, 1924

